Chris Paul isn't concerned his pairing with James Harden in Houston is going to create problems with distributing the basketball. He knows both are called ball-dominant, but he has no concerns with playing on the court at the same time as his new teammate.

"I hate to say this, but somebody who says that, they obviously don't watch enough," Paul told The Vertical. "Somebody will say, 'ball-dominant,' but at the end of the day, you're called on to do what your team needs you to do. If you're a 3-point shooter, and the coach puts you in to shoot 3-pointers, are you going to say, 'He's just a 3-point shooter?' The thing is, having the ability to have a guy who can create off the dribble and stuff like that is nice. And great."

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Paul is closing in on 10,000 career assists while Harden has been the runner-up to the Most Valuable Player award each of the last two seasons. Harden led the NBA in assists per game in 2016-17 with 11.2 while Paul was sixth with 9.2. It's natural to think those numbers will go down with another high-assists guy on the court, but in a system like Mike D'Antoni's there is always plenty of scoring to go around as well as assists.

This season Paul hopes that he will be able to spend more time off the ball like he did in Olympic play, and by doing that, he and Harden will be able to stay fresher down the stretch.

"I know how hard that can be, coming down, having to create so many plays on a nightly basis," he said. "That's something me and him talked about; being able to deviate some of that pressure."

Paul left the Clippers after six seasons and zero Western Conference Finals appearances. In his time there, he got the reputation for being very controlling on the court and he said that was also part of the reason he left the organization.

"It was definitely time for a change. It was definitely time for a change," Paul repeated.

While Paul wanted to team up with Carmelo Anthony as well in Houston that didn't work out in the end. Paul is not pining over Anthony though, he is moving forward with this team and is aiming for his first career West Conference Finals appearance.

"I don't ever know what is going to happen in the future," Paul said. "After the season, I'm a free agent. It is what it is. Melo is happy where he is and that makes me happy. He has his team. I have my team and that's that."

The Rockets open their 2017-18 season Oct. 17 when they visit the defending NBA champion Warriors.